Speak Up
by FandomRegina
Summary: After being adopted by the Bridgers, they tried to change Ezra. Neglect soon turned into abuse and everything changed when Ezra's 'father' took it too far. At 14 years old, Ezra has been kicked out of the only home he has ever know. Caught on the streets, he is taken in by the Jarrus family. Will he find his voice, or will he never have one again?
1. Information

Hello! Thank you so much for reading my story! Well, actually, it isn't mine! For those of you who may know me from wattpad, this isn't my original idea (Chapters 1-3 are not written by my hand, but the rest are). On wattpad, **ezraSWrebels** gave me permission to continue on their story! The story can be found here or on wattpad, and even ezraSWrebels can be found here on too!

Thank you all so much for reading!

3 Angel


	2. Information pt 2

Hey, guys! Due to my newness here on , I am not very familiar with kind of publishing quite yet. If there seems to be something off with my chapters, like the code showing up or something that is just COMPLETELY out of place, that was most likely due to something that happened after the chapter or whatever was published and either I was not paying attention or it happened after it was published and I did not catch it. Please do know I would never do something like that purposefully. If something like this does happen, please do comment the error so I am able to go back and fix it!

Thanks,

Angel 3


	3. Chapter 1: Prologue

He arrived home with his older 'sister', Eve, at his side. They had been walking home from school, and they hadn't said a word to each other. He didn't go to school because his 'parents' didn't "want to waste money on some street rat." So he had no formal education, even form when he was younger because his parents couldn't afford him going to school either, so he had no education at all. He was the first to walk in, his sister after him, leaving the door wide open. Before Ezra realized that the door was still open, their mother stepped out of the kitchen to greet them. Her smile faded to a frown, looking towards him.

"Ezra Bridger! Just because you're a street-rat does not mean you need to act like one! Close the door immediately!" His mother shrieked. He nearly sprinted the five feet to close the door before he could get yelled at more. When he turned back to his mother, she scowled at him, pointing up the stairs. "Now go to your room! I don't want to see you 'till morning."

"But mama-" he tried to plead, but he was interrupted.

"Address me _properly_." His mother bellowed. "I will not tolerate such _language_ in my house!" She said with disgust. Ezra hung his head, clenching his hands to keep his anger in check. He looked back up at her.

" _Mother_ , Eve was the one that left the door open." Ezra tried to explain, face pleading. He flinched when his mother stepped towards him.

"Stop blaming your sister, you brainless rat! She's the only child I will get that will do something great! You will amount to nothing" Their mother snapped. More like Eve's mother. She never treated him with any kindness. She saw him as disposable and useless. A waste of time. "Now, to your room, before your father arrives!" Ezra took a deep breath before turning away, heading for the stairs. As he was walking to them, his sister stuck her foot out, tripping him. An alarming pain erupted from his right leg as he fell to the unpolished, wooden floor, his hands now full of splinters. His sister howled with laughter as his mother left the room without another look. He quickly pushed himself from the ground and limped off to his room. You really couldn't call it a room. It was a meager bed with a single desk that looked a thousand years old in the corner.

It had been the same issues since he was adopted into the family at 7 years old. The family had wanted a young, perfect son, but they had gotten him. For the first four years of his life at the Bridger's, they had tried to change how he looked, how he acted, how he thought. They finally gave up when they found him on the streets running through the mud puddles.

When they realized he was never going to be perfect, they first started to neglect him, but it soon transformed into abuse. He had been hit so hard once, his arms and legs were left bruised, and his leg and arm were left fractured. They never cared for him if he was sick or hungry. If he was, though, they would turn a blind eye to him unless he started throwing up, telling him to either do it on the streets or hold it. His sister soon learned to hate him as much as his parents did, convincing everyone at school to call him names and beat him. She would tell them how much of a failure he was and how he thought he was better than everyone. Tears exploded from his eyes just as his door was thrown open by his father.

"Your mother told me that you were talking back. Did I not teach you manners, street boy!" His father snarled.

"Y...you did, sir" he whimpered. He was backed into a corner by his father. Tears were stained on his face and he readied his arms for the hits.

"What did you say?! I thought I told you not to talk back!"

"T..that wasn't t...talking-"

"It would be better for all of us if you didn't talk at all!" His father barked. Ezra flinched. "Got that? I don't want to hear a peep out of you! Ever!" Ezra nodded his head quickly, trying to get away before pain soared through his body. He instinctively put his arms up, sliding down the wall as several punched and kicks were thrown all over his body. Ezra started coughing up blood after his father had kicked him in the throat. His father sneered before casting his fist to the boy's throat. "I don't want to hear anything for you anymore!" His father stormed out of his room, leaving Ezra bloody and crying silent tears. In a ball in the corner of his room, Ezra began to choke on the blood-forming in his mouth and throat. Little did his father know that punch to the throat enabled Ezra to ever speak again.


	4. Chapter 2

"Clean this up immediately!" Eve shouted at Ezra, pushing him to the ground. "I don't want mother to find out." As she glared at him, he tried his best to avert eye contact and picked up the broken glass with his bare hands. She had been dancing around her room when she knocked over her lamp, shattering it. She had yelled for him to come and was now making him clean up _her_ mess.

He was just about finished when Eve gave a hard kick to his back, laughing. Ezra, silently, cried out in pain, opening his hands and letting them catch him before he hit his head on the floor. Many pieces of glass cut his hand and the pain increased from his hand, the glass had pierced his palm. A fair amount of blood had risen from the wound before Ezra rushed to the bathroom, trying not to drip blood anywhere. He learned that lesson about three years ago when he was eleven. He sat on the toilet, tending to the slash on his palm.

He had gained scars all over his body, given by his 'father' over the 7 years. After taking out all of the glass, washing and bandaging his hand with toilet paper, he shuffled to his room. He stood in the door frame, analyzing. Analyzing what, he didn't know. In the right corner, there was a bed that was about as comfortable as the ground and on the other side was a desk with nothing on it except dust. Giving a soft sigh he walked over to the bed and collapsed. Silent tears slid down his face.

It has been two years and it hasn't gotten better. His father would give him a beating almost every night, severely bruising him. His mother would lock him in his room and would go without food for days. His sister would treat him like an object, only caring for her needs. The door to his room was thrown open, pulling Ezra out of his trance. He looked up to see his father standing above him. Ezra tenses up, and backs up to the very far edge of his bed, knowing he was about to get another beating. His father reached out and grabbed the front of Ezra's shirt. The second Ezra took a breath in and smelled the man, he knew he was drunk. He knew things wouldn't go well. As Ezra tried to get out of his grasp, he was practically dragging Ezra out of the house.

"I want you out," He threw Ezra out the door onto the doorstep. "And I don't want to see you ever again!" The door slammed shut. Ezra sat there, stunned. He didn't even feel the pain that his hand had because he was so shocked. He was just thrown out of the only home he had ever known, although it wasn't a good one since his parents abandoned him.

He had nowhere to go.

Standing up slowly, he made his way to the door. He lightly knocked on it, mouthing the word _please_ , hoping it was all a cruel joke. He would much rather get a beating then spend a night on the cold dark streets. Minutes passed before he tried again, only louder. Every knock grew louder until Ezra finally broke down into silent tears. He repeated the word please over and over again in his head. About fifteen minutes passed when he finally gave up. He walked away from the door, casting glances back at it, thinking his father, sorry, _ex-father,_ would yell at him for being so stupid. Ezra walked away and down the street. He never looked back.

The sun had started to set, disappearing behind the houses on a street he was on. A cold breeze made Ezra wrap his arms around himself, wishing he had warmer clothes. As he kept walking, he was constantly looking over his shoulder, not knowing why, though.

After hours of walking, and not being able to see other than every other lamppost, his feet began to ache. Stopping, he looked around searching for a place to rest for the night. He spotted a small alley next to a closed restaurant. He made his way across the semi-abandoned street to the alley. The ground was murky and the trash bins had been knocked over. By what, Ezra didn't want to know. As he navigated around the piles of trash, he made his way to the very back of the alley. Laying his back against the wall he closed his eyes letting the coldness wash over him.

Ezra jerked awake as he heard a loud noise. He looked over to the entry of the small alley as a garbage truck drove past, indicating it was morning. With the sun being able to peak through cracks above him, the alleyway having an overhead shelter from two buildings being so close, he took in his surroundings. Finding boxes and pieces of cloth, he created a small shelter in the back corner of the alley. Once he was finished, a small, low rumble erupted from his stomach, suggesting he was hungry. He looked over to the garbage bins near the entry. Knowing that he had little chance it had anything in it, it being emptied when the garbage truck drove off, he quietly strolled to the bins peering inside. Nothing. Not one piece of trash. Nothing but a foul smell.

Disappointed, he walked back to his little shelter and stayed there for the rest of the day. A loud bang woke Ezra from his, mid-day nap? Late nap? He didn't know. He peered out of his box to see a black-haired girl dumping food into a nearby bin. He looked up at the sky to find it was the beginning of dusk.

Noticing the girl had left, he jumped up and hurried to the bin. Peeking inside, he found some beginning-to-rot leftover Chinese food from the restaurant nearby. He happily dug into it, not having eaten for the past two days, the woman he once, sort of, called mother, had not fed him. After enjoying the food he had, he walked back to his shelter. He laid his head on the cloth he wadded up to make a make-shift pillow, closing his eyes. He manages to fall asleep with the sound cars rushing by.

As the days went by, it was the same routine for Ezra. Wake up, check the bin, lie down, drift in and out, be interrupted by a loud bang, check the bin, eat, fall asleep. It was a the on the odd chance of finding some food in the morning. It was later of the seventh day that he realized the girl never came to dump out some food. He looked out of the box to discover the sun was no longer out, make everything nearly pitch black, with only a few streetlights here and there. He crawled out of his little home and made his way to the alley opening. For the first time in days, he stepped foot out of the alley and walked down the street. Ezra looked around as he made his journey to the small restaurant he was sleeping near, hoping no one would see him. He arrived at the building to find a closed sign. Stepping closer, he found a smaller sign announcing they were closed on Sundays. A ping of pain came from his stomach, interrupting his thinking. He clutched his stomach as he looked down the street towards the main part of the city. His blank face became one of fear, knowing he would have to get some food from there. He reluctantly began to walk towards the city, trying his best to not turn tail and go back to the alleyway.

The street was now bustling with cars and people filled the sidewalks, making it almost impossible for Ezra to get to his location. Wherever _that_ was. Ezra tried his best to not to touch anybody, but with it being so crowded, he had a near panic attack. He quickly ducked into the nearest alley, hoping no one took a second glance at him, as he tried to even out his breathing. The alley had two openings that were lined with trash.

Taking deep breaths, he tried calming himself down. Every sound that came from inside the alley made him jump. A loud thump that came from the other end of the alley almost made him run, but as he watched the figure move out from behind the bin into the dim light he saw bright red hair and running up and down the figure arms and legs was a striped pattern of different skin colors.

"Hi." The girl smiled. "I'm Kat." Ezra eyed her suspiciously backing farther away. He noticed that one of her eyes was neon green while the other was deep blue. A dried scar ran along underneath her right eye, Kat stepped forward, her hand out in front of her. Ezra took one more step back only to find he was up against the wall. Kat noticed his distress as she moved her hand back to her side, backing up a little. "Are you alright?" She watched as he relaxed when she moved backward. Ezra did nothing but shrug. A silence fell between them before Kat spoke up again. "What's your name?" She asked, curious. Ezra stared at the ground in front of him. "No name?" He stood still, nodding his head. It was easier than trying to tell her. And it wasn't like he was taught anything by his 'family'.

"Well, that's okay. Are you hungry? I have some soft bread." She stretched out her hand to Ezra, holding out a large piece of bread. He looked up at her. "Go on, you can have it." He slowly reached out for it. Once the bread was in his grasp, he quickly retraced his arm to his chest. He took a small bite, eyeing the girl in front of him. Soon, the bread had disappeared, his stomach no longer hurting. He averted his eyes back to the muddy ground, stilling feeling the presence of the girl's eyes on him. Silence fell again. Minutes passed nothing.

"You don't say much, do you?" Kat asked abruptly, Erza slight shook his head, glancing up at her face. Kat nodded a small understanding. "What brought you here?" She watched curiously. "All the stares on the street bugging you?" He nodded, giving a small side smile. "Did I just see a smile?" Kat laughed her hands on her hips. "Bet I could make you laugh!" Ezra snuffled a silent snicker. A smile appeared on his face. A sudden yell came from the other end of the alley, Kat looked over, her smile turned into a frown, fear evident on her face.

"Hey, there she is!" A buff voice traveled down the small walk space. Kat froze in terror. She turned towards him and mouthed _ru_ _n._

Ezra tried to, but he was grabbed by the back of his collar before he could get very far. The hand lifted him off the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" A laugh came behind him. "What do you think boys? Should we let him be?" He snickered.

"Not a chance, Ty." A deeper voice answered.

"Brads right." A third voice came. "Give him a few kicks here and there. Teach him a lesson about living on the streets."

"He looks hungry," The deeper voice said. "Let's give 'em a knuckle-sandwich." He cracked his knuckles.

Ezra was suddenly dropped, his face colliding with the muddy ground. Pushing himself off the ground, he felt a foot connect with his torso. The force of the kick knocked him down once more. Another kick was sent to his back. Not that much later, maybe a few minutes, they stopped. He saw them looking towards an end of the alley.

"Come on, we got to go. Someone's coming." The deep voice quietly said. Ezra heard footsteps running to the opposite end of the alley. He stiffened as he heard another pair of steps coming toward him. Moving his head up, he looked into the eyes of a teenage girl with colorful hair. The girl bent down to make sure he was okay, examining his face. She moved her hands to the sides of his torso pulling him up into a sitting position. Ezra made a painful face as the girl leaned him against the wall.

"Stay right here, I'll get my mom." She stood up before running back to where she came from. Ezra bit his lip as the girl disappeared around the corner. Once he was sure that it was clear, he pushed himself up. He looked behind him making sure the girl had not yet returned. With no one in sight, he used the wall to help hold himself up as he walked out the alleyway. Hours later, he found himself resting against a brick wall behind a small dumpster. The sun had set and the moon was beginning to rise. His eyelids dropped as he felt a sudden wave of tiredness. He listened to the cars whisking by as he slowly drifted off to sleep


	5. Chapter 3

Awoken from a nightmare, Ezra had traveled down a near-forgotten road in the city, ending up at a small park. The sun had yet to rise, so the movement of any shadow made him jump. The grass was near brown as the leaves of trees turned from brown to red to orange, a side effect from oncoming fall.

But in time it would become winter and eventually, snow will fall. He had yet to prepare, is that he owned nothing but what he wore. He walked past a bundle of chopped tree logs as yet another striking cold wind swept past. He looked toward the dark morning sky, the stars still twinkling. However, the sun started to rise high above the buildings, causing the shimmering stars to fade. While walking down the path, Ezra spotted an old park bench. Slowly but surely, he dragged himself to where it stood. He slumped back against the rotting wood while an empty feeling washed over him.

He realized no one cared. Abandoned by both his birth and adopted parents. No one wanted him from the start. Eventually, a single tear slipped down his cheek as his eyes slipped closed, bringing near another nightmare.

The sun was at its highest peak indicating it was mid-day, yet Ezra had not moved from the scrappy bench, waking only half an hour ago. People had passed the boy, giving him looks of disgust as they noticed the layer of dirt covering him. All he could do was ignore it. A growl erupted from his stomach, begging for food. His head lifted from the seat, scouting out a food source. Across the street from the grassy park laid a small convenient store.

The thought of stealing came to mind. Even knowing he could get caught, his stomach growled again, loudly, making the decision for him. He stood up from the bench, walking to the bustling road. Reaching the road, he was able to cross while avoiding the cars. As we walked into the small store, a bulky man sat at the front counter, reading something that looked like a magazine. He had silver and light purple hair and seemed extremely tall, even sitting down. Ezra was looking up at him and without warning, the man looked up, locking his sight with Ezra. He squinted at Ezra and Ezra turned away, walking into a random aisle. He peeked around the corner, see if the man was still watching. He wasn't.

Feeling confident, he looked at the packets of food in front of him. He grabbed two, shoving it into his pocket. He moved down to another aisle and got some more dry food packets, his eyes peeking at the man every so often. Ezra was grabbing another packet when he felt eyes on him. He put it back and started walking out when he heard a voice.

"Where do you think you're going, street-rat?" The man demanded in a gruff voice. It was enough to make Ezra freeze. Needless to say, the boy was shaking in fear as the man came around the counter. At that moment, Ezra took off running out of the store and down the street. A yell could be heard from behind him. For fear that he could be hurt, he ran faster, avoiding anyone who was in the way. He knew the man was close behind, but he couldn't help but look. The man was almost right behind him. Before turning his head back, his body collided with another.

Landing on the ground, his hand shooting pain up his arm again from the glass wound, he looked up. A uniformed police officer stood before him. Ezra's mouth gaped open. The man reached down and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" He asked kindly. Another yell came from behind Ezra. Suddenly remembering the near seven foot, _angry,_ man chasing him, he tried to rush past the officer only to find the man had yet to let go of his arms. He began to struggle out of the grasp, but from then on it only got tighter. Provided the condition, his struggle quickly stopped as the bulky man can to a halt.

"Oh, Kanan, am I glad to see you!" The man panted. He turned to Ezra, pointing a finger in his chest. "This rat tried to steal something from my shop!" The officer nodded, still tightly holding on to the kid's arm.

"I'll take him to the station, then to his parents. Hear that kid? Your mother is not going to be happy." Ezra was going to say he didn't have one, but he didn't want to be beaten for talking back. And he couldn't talk. That was an issue too.

The two men said their last goodbyes before Ezra was dragged into the back of a police car. The car rolled out on the street, as Ezra looked out the window the whole time, ignoring the police officers questions but smiled, knowing he still had the packets of food in his jacket.

They arrived at the station in no time. The officer exited the car and walked into the building, leaving the boy in the back seat. Ezra watched as he went, hoping the man, _Kanan_ , had forgotten about him. His hope was crushed as he saw Kanan walk out of the building. He opened the back door, standing aside to let Ezra out. He sat there, staring at the seat in front of him. Kanan sighed.

"Come on, kid. I don't want to use force. Get out. Now." Ezra crossed his arms but got out. As Kanan shut the door, he put a hand on Ezra's shoulder, making him flinch. Kanan didn't notice as he led Ezra to the doors. As they entered, he pointed to a bench and told him to wait. And he did.

Half an hour later, he arrived back at the bench he had told Ezra to sit on when they first arrived. The boy glanced up at Kanan before quickly fixing his eyes on the floor. Instead of walking past, the man stopped in front on the bench, looking down at Ezra. Feeling the officer's eyes on him, he moved his knees to his chest and circled his arms around his legs, trying to make himself as small looking as possible. He felt self-conscious, afraid he could see through him. Afraid of what he would think if he knew the truth. Ezra stiffened when Kanan took a seat on the bench, watching the boy's the movements. Ezra shifted to the right, creating space between them. Kanan hummed before averting his sight the papers in his hand.

While he flipped the pages, Ezra looked up from his knees to the paper. He saw the words and the letters, but couldn't make any of them out. He looked away from the papers and to a clock that hung above a desk, the second hand ticking away. He watched as the red hand slowly move around the clock. He was captivated, putting his attention all on the clock to shift his mind away from being arrested.

A loud _thump_ came from the door as Ezra whipped his head around. More uniformed officers strode in. Some held citizens by the arms pushing them into the building a while others carried mugs of coffee. He watched each carefully. A voice came from the right of him causing him to jump. Quickly he looked beside him, Kanan was staring right at him. Ezra gulped.

"Tell me your name, kid." Kanan's face showed no emotion as he held Ezra's gaze. Ezra looked back at him, his breathing becoming uneasy. He shook his head. Kanan sighed.

"Come on, you can't keep giving me the silent treatment. Do you know how to write, at least?" When Ezra didn't respond, he put a hand on his shoulder, trying to catch his attention. However, Ezra abruptly stood up. His body shaking uncontrollably. Without realizing, Ezra ended up at the other end of the room shaking his head as he hyperventilated. Calmly, Kanan stood from the bench advancing slowly toward. Eventually, Kanan was mere feet away from the startled boy. Ezra threw his hands in front of him, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Immediately, Kanan noticed, backing up a tiny bit.

"Ahsoka!" Kanan called out. "I need some help here!" A woman rushed out of a small office nearby. She looked between Kanan and the young boy. Uncertainty spread across her face, then confusion. Kanan looked up at her, pleading with his eyes. She slowly walked over to the two, her heels clicking against the cold tile.

"What did you do, Jarrus?" Her stern voice echoed through the room. A look of disgruntlement spread across Kanan's face.

"I didn't do anything! He suddenly stood and ran!" He gestured to the cowering boy. Ahsoka flicked him in the ear, causing a surprised cry come from Kanan.

"Yeah, uh huh. And my goldfish ran away from home! You obviously did something!" She turned her back on Kanan. Now facing Ezra, she knelt down to his height. Ezra had curled into a ball. His arms covering the top of his head, while his legs protected his face. Ahsoka reached out and put her hand on his back. He flinched, muscle tightening. The hand slowly moved up and down his back, calming him. His breathing became steady as his eyelids heavily dropped. A soft snore could be heard but the to adults, indicating the boy was exhausted. Retracting her arm, Ahsoka stood up facing Kanan. A stern look plastered on her face.

"Since you didn't 'do' anything," Using finger quotes around do. "You can take him home and let him rest."

"Why can't you take him? You are obviously better at taking care of him." Kanan challenged.

"Uh, let see. Oh, that's right! Because I told you so! Now, get the move on before I fire you and that sass of yours." Ahsoka demanded, pointing her finger at the door. "Be sure to bring him back tomorrow in one piece. I'm going to be needing to talk to him if he's willing to." She looks down sadly at the boy. A sigh escaped from Kanan as he bent down and picked up the fragile boy. Carefully wrapping his arms around the boy to hold him in place, he heard out the station's door. "Oh, and be sure to say hello to Hera for me," Ahsoka called out as Kanan continued down the steps and to his old fashion black car with a sleeping Ezra in his arms.


	6. Chapter 4

Driving across town in rush hour traffic was an absolute pain. Kanan sat in the driver's seat, trying to focus on the road, but his attention kept averting to the unconscious boy in the back seat. A car honked, causing Kanan to put his eyes from the mirror to the stoplight, for it had turned green. Kanan hit the gas.

It was only a few minutes before Kanan turned onto Phoenix Blv. A few kids ran up and down the road, laughing and talking. He slowly drove past the group and continued down the road to his home. While looking back at the kid, making sure he was still asleep, he drove right over a pothole, causing the car to violent jerk, half of the car dropping and driving back up. Taking a deep breath, he looked in the mirror again, checking on Ezra. He was still asleep, surprisingly. Kanan sighed in relief. He didn't want the poor kid to have _another_ panic attack, in the car.

He turned into a driveway of a two-story house. He carefully exited, quietly closing the metal car door. He opened the backseat door, taking the still sleeping child out, and going up to the door. He knocked with his boot loud enough to get someone's attention inside the house, but quite enough to not jostle the kid awake. A girl with blue hair and orange tips opened the door, looking from the man to the small boy he held in his arms, and back to the man. Kanan smiled.

"Hi, Sabine." He whispered, smiling. The girl, Sabine, waved before opening the door more to let him in.

"Didn't know today was Ahsoka's day off." She whispered as Kanan shook his head, walking into the house.

"Nah. Ahsoka gave me homework to take care of. Trying to get rid of me, I suppose." He replied, letting out a soft chuckle. She looks closer at the _still_ unconscious boy in Kanan's arms.

"He looks familiar. What's his name?"

"Actually, I don't know," He set the boy down on the couch gently, scratching the back of his neck. "He kind of had a panic attack at the station. It's the reason why he's here." The girl nodded her head.

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Other than stealing from Zeb's store? No." Kanan looked at Sabine as her eyes widened.

"He stole from his store? I'm surprised Zeb didn't catch him first." Sabine smirked.

"It seems that he is a fast runner. Ran right into me." She nodded. Looking over at the boy again, squinting, she turned back to Kanan after a few seconds.

"I need to start homework or else Hera is going to have my head." She turned away from him and head to the stairs, going up to her room. He shook his head, thinking of _where_ Hera was anyways. She should be back soon.

Turning back to Ezra, Kanan looked at him, trying to figure out what caused the panic attack. His thoughts went to parental abuse when the door opened, revealing Hera. She looked towards the sleeping child, her solemn face softening.

"Sabine said you brought home a kid. I don't remember having a conversation about adopting again." Hera whispered jokingly, smiling at her husband.

"I guess word gets around quick here, then," Kanan said, smiling back at his wife. They exchanged a few more words before Hera pulled him into the kitchen.

"We tend to him and feed him later. Let's let him rest. In the meantime, you're going to help me cook." Kanan tried to argue but was cut off by a stern look from Hera. He groaned.

"Fine..." They started to collect the ingredients for dinner, talking in low voices.

Ezra awoke with a start, his breathing fast and uneven again. Small drops of sweat rested on his forehead and staining the shirt he had on with his bright orange jacket. He had woke from another nightmare, but this time it was vivid. He remembered being engulfed by the shadows, being cornered in an unrecognizable room, and the knife. The knife that slowly came closer to his skin until...

Ezra shook his head, the image still plastered in his mind, unconsciously rubbing his forearm. He took a look around his surroundings, only now realizing he was in someone's house. It was a fairly large room with a gray color on the walls with bits of green, purple, and white. A TV was placed on a small coffee table in front of the sofa and nearly on the wall in front of the midnight blue sofa he was on. Another table was set a few feet away from the couch with many different objects and paper scattered across it.

Objects were cluttered in the farthest corner of the room. Lamps were carefully placed beside the white doors, adding more light to the room. To the right of Ezra, there were multiple pictures that hung from the wall next to it and to his left, nearly behind the TV, was a wooden staircase. Everything liked fairly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. A sudden sound made Ezra jump behind the couch for cover.

"Kanan!" A female voice echoed through the house. "Carefully!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to drop them..." Kanan's voice was interrupted by another pot dropping to the floor. Ezra figured the loud noises are what woke him up.

"You know what? Out! I can't deal with this right now," The female sighed, "You destroyed my good pot." Ezra would've laughed, but not knowing where he was made him stay frozen behind the couch as he heard footsteps, but they stopped, and a sigh was heard from the man. Concerned, Ezra peeked his head up from behind the couch. Kanan was leaning against the wall, eyes shut. His fingers were massaging his head.

"This is why I don't cook!" He mumbled to himself. His eyes widen looking towards the couch. Ezra ducked, hoping that he didn't see him. Kanan called out to Hera. "Hera! The kid is gone!"

"Figure it out!" She distractedly. Kanan's lips tighten. His eye darted around as he softly walked forward. Ezra watched safely behind the couch. Peaking from one of the corners of the couch, he studied the movements of the older man. Before anything else could happen, a thud came from the second floor of the house. Startled, Ezra jumped, giving away his hiding spot. Kanan didn't move as they looked at each other. He smiled.

"It's alright. It's probably just Sabine with her skateboard." Kanan informed. "She likes to repaint it quite often. Always trying new designs and colors. We have to buy her paint every week." He tried to walk towards the boy, but he backed up the closer he got. Kanan, taking the hint, sat down in a chair that was near the sofa, but not close enough to scare the kid. Ezra slowly crept from behind the couch, sitting at the farthest end of the sofa, and the furthest from Kanan. Kanan was about to say something when the front door opened. The buff man from the shop entered. Ezra went pale, the events from earlier playing in his mind. He moved back behind the couch before the man, _Zeb,_ could spot him. Kanan sighed, looking at the intruder.

"Zeb. You're back early." The man stretched his arms back, stretching, and giving a loud yawn.

"Yep. Was able to close shop early. What did you do with the-" He had turned to his right spotting the young boy hiding behind the couch. Kanan sighed, again.

"I'll explain later..." Kanan said, voice tired. Zeb nodded, but watched the kid for a second, glaring at him, before going up the stairs.

Kanan sat Ezra at the dining table as the rest of the family prepared for the meal. Bowls and spoons clicked against each other as they were s down on the table. The girl, known as Sabine, smiled at Ezra before heading back into the kitchen to help bring out the food, leaving him alone. A quiet conversation could be heard from the next room.

"Why do we have to watch him?" A gruff voice echoed through Ezra's ears. He recognized the voice to be Zeb.

"I just told you why," Kanan replied hastily, before continuing. "Besides it is only going to be for the night. Tomorrow, I'm taking him back to Ahsoka and returning him to his family." The comment made Ezra swallow. He couldn't go back to that family, He couldn't stand more beatings. It wouldn't last long before they throw him out again. Keeping silent, he made sure that no one was entering. At the other end of the dining room, there was another door. He quietly ran over to it, pushing it open, and stepped out. Before going any further, he made sure the door had closed softly. When the door was fully shut, he dashed down the hall only to find himself lost in a hallway full of doors.

Turning around to face the way he had come, he spotted another set of wooden stairs. As he walked up the steps, a loud creaking noise rose from the boards. Ezra froze, worry flashed across his face. Without a second thought, he dashed up the stairs. Upon arriving at the top, he stood and listened for any sounds that would indicate someone had heard him. While he listened, a sudden squawking sound came from the other end of the upstairs hallway. Ezra turned his head only to have his vision blocked out by vibrant orange colors.

As the unknown attacker pecked and diving at his head he stumbled back falling back onto the floor He raised his arms up to protect his face, as he scooted back into the corner of the walls. The figure was now company by another, they continued to claw and peck at the boy's arms. "Get away from me!" Ezra screamed through his head, trying to swat the birds away. He wished he could scream out. But he couldn't. It was not an option. As he was continually attacked, he tried to scoot further between the walls but it was not effective, until

"Ghost! Phantom! What are you doing!" A female voice called out. The attacks had stopped, letting Ezra lower his defense. He looked up at the owner of the voice, Hera.

"We've never officially met. I'm sorry about them," She jesters to the birds on her arm as they squawked,

"Intruder, Intruder!"

"No. He is a guest. Treat him nicely." Hera hushed them. She turned back to Ezra as she continued. "As you already heard, this is Ghost and Phantom. They are a tropical type of parrot, quite loud if say so myself," She laughed. "Now come, dinner is ready." She turned and I walked down the stairs as Ezra followed. They arrived back in the dining, everyone looked up at them. They were all seated and ready to begin.

With eyes on him, Ezra subconsciously started to rub the skin between his first finger and thumb under the table. It was a coping mechanism for his anxiety. He was placed back in the seat he was in before. When Hera had sat down, everyone began to dig into the food. Well, all except Ezra. He watched as they passed and poured the soup and vegetables. Kanan looked up from his dish to find Ezra had not moved a muscle.

"Are you going have something to eat, kid?" Kanan questioned, pointing to the plate in front of the boy. In return, Ezra shook his head no, before looking down at the wood table. "Let me restate that. You are going to eat something. Sabine passed him some soup." Sabine set a bowl in front of him. She smiled softly before turning back to her own bowl. Ezra made eye contact with Kanan before picking up the metal spoon. Every so often he looked up at Kanan as the older man watched him eat, making sure he was. As he dipped the spoon in the warm soup, leaving it there for a minute before raising up to his mouth. Ezra looked up again at the man, seeing satisfaction go over his face as Kanan's focus turned to Hera. He blows a sigh of relief, setting the spoon down leaving it to rest for the rest of the meal.

The dinner had ended quickly. Sabine ran back upstairs muttering something about doing homework. Zeb sprawled out on the couch watching a TV show called S _upernatural_. Kan left to his office to finish some paperwork while Hera stayed in the kitchen, cleaning the food from the dishes from the meal. Ezra had helped carry the bowls and spoons over to the sink from Sabine's and Zeb's dinner, Kanan had already done it, and his own. As he helped put them into the dishwasher, Hera spoke.

"I haven't heard you say a word since you've gotten here. It must be pretty startling to be here, a place you're not familiar with." Ezra shrugged and kept loading the dishwasher. Hera continued to talk about herself and the others, scrubbing the dishes and handing them to Ezra to load. However, he didn't respond. He simply loaded the dishes she handed him. "Not much of a talker I see." She smiled.

"Message, message." The bird, Ghost, squawked loudly, landing on the countertop. The other bird followed close behind. "Message from Zeb." Hera took the paper from Ghost's claws, reading it quietly.

"No, Zeb! I will not bring you a chocolate bar!" She yelled over her shoulder, causing Ezra to jump with fright. "Sorry," Hera apologize, seeing she had scared the boy. She tossed the small piece of paper into the garbage as the two birds flew back upstairs. "Zeb taught my little babies to deliver messages. It's useful at times, but he just uses it for enjoyment and needs," She laughed as she placed the final dish away.

"Now, let's get you settled into the guest room," Hera beckoned Ezra to the upstairs hallway once more. She stood by an open door, letting Ezra walk in first. "The bed is over there in the corner, There's a bathroom down the hall if you need it. And you should probably shower sooner or later, so there are towels over on the desk for you when you decide to." She pointed toward the door at the end of the hall and to the large desk to his left.

"Oh, and Kanan and I are right next doors. You are always welcome to knock on the door if you need us." Ezra walked further into the room, looking around. He took a seat on the bed and looked up at Hera. She smiled. "We'll see you in the morning then. Goodnight." With that, she walked out, closing the door behind her. He, once again, was left alone. A sudden wave of tiredness washed over him. In the drowsy state, he laid back on to the bed closing his eyes, thinking to take a shower in the morning.


	7. Chapter 5

Hey guys. This chapter deals with the abuse Ezra had when at the Bridger's house and Kanan asks him questions about it. If you don't want to read it, I will give you a warning at the beginning of it so if you might have triggers, you don't have to read it. I've tried to make it go into it as little detail as possible, but I will tell you when it starts and when it ends.

Ezra woke up in another cold sweat. He knew it wasn't the first time he has had that dream, but he also knows it won't be the last. As he sat up, taking in his new surroundings, dread filled his stomach, thinking he was back at his adopted parent's house. But realized, with the help of a little light and a softer bed, that he was at a different house. Whose's, he didn't know yet. But he knew that they could still be as bad as the last home he stayed in if he stayed longer than he needed to. As he stood up from the bed, shoes still on his feet, too exhausted to care the night before, he walked towards the window that was on the farthest side of the room. He looked out of it and realized it was past sunrise and would be taken back to the police station. For some reason, sadness found its way to him, and he didn't quite know why.

As if on cue, though, there was a light knock on the door before it opened. Kanan came through, already having his uniform on, and looked at Ezra.

"Come on, kid. Breakfast." Ezra stole one more glance out the window before walking towards Kanan. As he walked past him, Ezra, out of his peripheral vision, Kanan lift his hand on his shoulder but thought better of it as Ezra flinched away from him, and put it back to his side. As the two walked to the kitchen, Sabine was finishing up her waffles, Hera was washing dishes, and Zeb was nowhere to be seen. Ezra walked towards the cabinet and grabbed a plate.

"There are some fresh waffles in the maker if you want some. And Zeb is off at work, so you don't need to worry about him." Hera spoke to him, smiling. Ezra gave a small nod in an answer and went to the waffle maker. As he opened it, his fingers touched the hot part of the maker, making him drop the plate in surprise and to grab his wounded hand. His eyes widened as Kanan yelled out.

"Kid!" He quickly bent down, forgetting about his hand, and picking up pieces of the plate, getting multiple small cuts along his hand. Tears streamed down his face, trying to pick up all the pieces. He heard somebody say they'd get a first aid kit and he saw Kanan kneel in front of him. He dropped what shards of the plate he had to put his arms up to protect himself. He backed himself into a corner where the cabinets met as somebody took his hands in theirs.

"Hey. It's okay. Breathe in. Breathe out. It's okay. Hey, hey, it's okay." He felt somebody rubbing his back, trying to calm him down. As his breathing started to calm down, his hands were still shaking in Kanan's, who was assessing the kind of injuries he had. "It's just a plate, hon. Just a plate. You're okay." Ezra buried his face in his arms since his hands were being wrapped by Sabine, who had come back with an Aloe Vera plant leaf and put it on his burn and some bandages for the cuts on his hands.

When she was finished, Hera continued to rub his back as Kanan cleaned up the plate. When the last bits of broken ceramic were put into the garbage, Ezra had finally calmed down enough that he could breathe without crying. When Hera tried to ask him why he had a panic attack because of the plate, although she had a good idea, he just shrugged. Hera pressed, wanting to figure out why.

"Hon, why did you panic because of breaking the plate?" Ezra relented, knowing the older female wouldn't give up, looked at Kanan.

"Me?" He asked, shocked. Ezra shook his head, but when Hera asked again, he pointed at Kanan. "What did I do?"

"To be fair, love, you yelled at him," Hera answered, shrugging in sympathy. Kanan looked at her like she had just grown two heads.

"Because he got burned! I was worried!" Ezra pulled on the sleeve of Hera's shirt, getting her attention.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned that their fighting caused him the paleness in his face. He pointed at Kanan again. "Did Kanan make you panic?" Ezra shook his head, but stopped, shaking his hand from side to side, meaning that Kanan's outburst had frightened him. Suddenly, it clicked for Hera. Her face fell as she leaned back onto the cabinets with Ezra. "I'm sorry, hon. He would _never_ do something like that. I swear." And then, it clicked for Kanan too, his face falling as he groaned.

"I'm so sorry, kid." Ezra shrugged, standing. As the two adults pulled themselves from the floor, Sabine had left when Kanan finished cleaning up the plate, Hera led Ezra to the table while Kanan got a waffle from the maker and a cup of water, bringing it over to Ezra. "Hungry?" Ezra shook his head and Kanan sighed. He placed the untouched waffle and cup of water on the table and started to head upstairs. "I'll get changed." Hera nodded and made sure Ezra was okay, with the very unconvincing nod of his head, and also went upstairs to change.

Ezra stared at the waffle, his stomach growling. He reached for it, taking a single bite. His nose crinkled, wanting to spit out the thing as he swallowed, trying to keep it down, but took another bite, this time washing it down with the whole cup of water that was made for him. When the glass clinked against the table, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs, so he sat as if he hadn't moved. Kanan came up behind him, saying it was time to. As Ezra got up from the table, Kanan led him to the car. As Ezra entered, he hugged his knees against his chest and rested his chin on his left knee, looking out the window.

"Seatbelt," Kanan spoke from the front seat. Ezra complied, putting his knees down long enough to fasten it, but resumed the same position he was in. Kanan sighed before backing out of the driveway.

As Hera came down the stairs, just as Kanan left, she entered the kitchen to finish cleaning up. She smiled at the two bites taken out of the waffle and the whole cup of water gone.

As Kanan pulled up to the station, Ezra unbuckled his seatbelt, waiting for Kanan to open the door. When he did, he exited, hanging his head. He followed Kanan inside, but instead of waiting in the front room, Kanan led him to a secluded room where a single mirror was to his left when he entered, but to his right when he sat down. He didn't feel the cold of the metal seat or table when he sat down. The only way he did is when he put his hands on the table while waiting for Kanan to come back.

He looked to his right at the double-sided mirror, wondering how many people were watching him right now. His head snapped to Kanan as he opened the door again, having a rather thin folder in his right hand. As he closed the door, he walked over to the small table and sat in front of Ezra, placing the thin folder between the two men.

"You gave our guys in the research company quite the task." He started off, opening the folder. "You have no records except for birth and adoption papers. No medical files. No dentist files. No school files. You were adopted by Mira and Ephraim Bridger, who had a daughter named Eve Bridger, is that correct?" Ezra nodded, shrinking back as much as he could into the uncomfortable, metal chair, rubbing the skin, again, between his first finger and thumb.

*The questioning will begin after this paragraph. look for next bold*

"We were going to call your parents, but are holding off until we can get pull you from their custody and place you into the system." Ezra, although relieved he wouldn't have to go back to the people who abused him, panicked. He shook his head. He has only been adopted one and fostered no times, but he knew kids that went to foster homes and never came out. Like Oleg. He went to Kallus' Foster Home, and he never heard from him again. Kanan looked at him funny. "You want to go back to the Bridger's?" Ezra straightened, eyes wide as he shook his head as his hands began to tremble again. Kanan took a deep breathe and let it out slowly. "You don't want to be put into the system again." Ezra nodded furiously. Rubbing between his fingers wasn't helping. He took deep breathes, trying to remember how the female, Hera, calmed him down this morning. It helped, some, but enough that he didn't have another attack. Kanan waited patiently, knowing that he couldn't help all that much, especially after this mornings incident

"Alright. We'll see what we can do about that. But in the meantime, do you think you could answer some questions?" Ezra would've laughed if he wasn't still trying to calm himself down.

"Ezra Bridger, did your adopted parents abuse you?" He nodded. Kanan briefly looked towards the mirror, but then back to him.

"To what extent." Ezra knew he couldn't respond with words, so he rolled up his sleeves, making sure he only showed the back of his arms. "Oh my god." Kanan breathed out, eyes stuck to the bruised and scarred skin on Ezra's arms with horror. He swallowed, jaw clenching and unclenching before he was able to ask the next question.

"Is there anywhere else you have... these marks?" Kanan question, face pale and solemn. Ezra nodded. Kanan took a breath. "Where?" Ezra pointed to his back, neck, arms, and stomach. Kanan looked as if he was going to throw up. "Are there any... other ways your 'family' abused you." Ezra nodded.

"How?" Kanan wanted to be anywhere else but here and asking these questions. But if they were going to put these two in jail, and their daughter in custody of another family member, they needed to be as thorough as possible. Ezra pointed to his stomach. Kanan looked at him quizzically but then understood. "They starved you?" He nodded. "How many days at a time." Ezra shrugged. Kanan clenched his fist as he tried to not go over to the mirror and hit it as many times as he could to shatter it. He counted to ten before he asked the next question.

"Did they ever... assault you?" Ezra shook his head. Kanan sighed in almost-near relief. He thought he was going to have to make them pay for doing such thing to him, a child no less. He still might for all the other things they've done. He'd beg Ahsoka to let him go with the team arresting the two and be not-so-gentle with the couple.

"Alright. I think we have enough information. We're just about done here."

*it has ended. No trigger warnings from here.*

"Ezra, can you speak?" Ezra shook his head. Kanan pursed his lips, trying to think of why.

"Why?" Ezra stood up and motioned that he was going to fake punch Kanan, making sure that he wouldn't even touch him. Kanan nodded for him to go on. Ezra punched near Kanan's throat where his Adam's apple was. Kanan nodded and told him to sit back down.

"Can you read or write?" Ezra shook his head. "Sign language?" He shook his head no again.

"Alright. We're done here." Kanan stood with the file and Ezra didn't move. Kanan walked out, leaving Ezra alone. He looked towards the mirror and took a deep breath. He turned back forward to where Kanan had sat and stared at the empty seat. He knew people who went into the system and he never saw them again.

He didn't want to go missing and be missed by nobody. He didn't want to be a distant memory for few.

But right then, he was too tired to care anymore.


	8. Chapter 6

**Okay. 1) Sorry it's so short. 2) So I'm not 100% sure with the information in this chapter regarding adoption finishing and child placement of an adopted child if he has no family or friends or doesn't feel comfortable with any of the recommendations that Ezra's 'parents' had for him and their daughter or on how foster care or how any of that works. So if you see something that isn't correct, sorry. EnjoY! and:**

Midnight Luna and InnerFangirl: You can't do that!... Not without me! Wait up! And absolutely no problem! If I ever post a chapter and there's a trigger that (ANYONE) finds, please please tell me!

luke payne , blubird513 , Guest, Mistress Malica: Yeah, I fixed this. I didn't realize it. Thank you for pointing this out! Some very, very technical difficulties. It seemed to have happened after uploading it. So apologies and hope it's okay now!

As Kanan stepped out of the room, he headed to Ahsoka's office. He knocks three times before he is told to enter. As he does, she sets aside a stack of papers and smiles up at him.

"What can I help you with, Jarrus?" Kanan takes a deep breath.

"What's the possibility of Hera and I being able to foster Ezra until we decide if we want to adopt him or foster him until he is 18 or find a family that is kind and is able to take care of him?" He says in one breath, being out of it when he finishes. Ahsoka looks at him, surprised.

"Isn't he already adopted? Can you foster somebody who already has a guardian who has custody over him?" He places the file on her desk with the notes he took. She opens it and her face goes from horror to anger real quick.

"Not if they're in jail." She places the file back down, speechless. She opens her mouth to speak but closes it back. She does this a few times before she swallows and is able to speak.

"I'd think you'd like to be with the people who deal with these two?" Kanan nods, his eyes barely hiding his anger. She sighs as she leans back in her chair. "I'll get a report on them right away. For now, yes. He needs a guardian since it seems as if the parents are abusing him and we don't know if they have any recommendations for him to go to, and most likely he won't want to go to any of them. Do they have any other children?"

"Yes. A daughter. She isn't adopted and she is 14 years of age." Ahsoka nods.

"Alright. I'll get services on hold and I'll talk to them about what will happen to the child. If the parents do have a family member she can stay with, and if she agrees to it, we'll send her there. Have you talked to Hera about this?" She looks at Kanan, who has started to rub the back of his neck.

"Well..." He smiles sheepishly as Ahsoka sighs.

"Go talk to her before you get slapped about this." He nods.

"Thank you, Ahsoka." She smiles. As he walks out of her office, she throws a piece of paper at him, telling him good luck. "I'll need it!" He says, chuckling.

"You'll need what?" Kanan yelps in surprise, nearly colliding with Hera.

"Hera! Ah, hey..." She sighs.

"What did you do this time, Kanan?"

"How do you feel about fostering the kid, Ezra?" Hera blinks rapidly, surprised.

"What?"

"We don't know if he has any family or friends, and if he did, he wouldn't want to go to anybody who is connected to his adopted parents, and we are arresting the couple as soon as possible for abuse and take their biological child to a close family member or a friend. He's scared to go back into the system, so what if we fostered him?" Hera sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"What has Ahsoka said?"

"She said we could."

"Alright. I'm guessing you'll be with the group arresting the parents?"

"Yes. Services will also be there to deal with the girl, Eve." Hera nods.

"Alright. I'll see you tonight, love. I'll go see the kid and ask him if he's willing to come with us." She kisses him on the cheek and puts a hand on his shoulder as she walks to where Kanan left him.

"And Hera?" She looks back at him.

"Yes?"

"He can't talk. It seems that he was punched, most likely by the man, hard enough for him either not be able to use his voice, or he can, he just either doesn't know or doesn't want to." Hera thinks for a minute, but nods.

"Alright. Good luck." As she walks away, Ahsoka peaks her head out of her office.

"That went better than expected. I thought she would've-"

"We're you listening to us the whole time?" Kanan asks, turning around to face her. She purses her lips,

"Maybe?"


	9. Chapter 7

**Warnings: Panic attack, curse word (just one; the one for crap) , and bad thoughts; see the bold WITH UNDERLINE to see where the panic attack starts. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. Enjoy!**

Ezra jumps a little when the door is opened again, his thoughts fleeing as the woman enters. Ezra wants to feel afraid, but the woman does not seem like she is going to hurt him and has, what Ezra believes, a 'motherly aura'. As if he would know what that is. As she sits across from him, she makes sure not to make any sudden movements that might scare the child.

"Hi. My name is Hera. Yours is Ezra, right?" Ezra nods, not looking at her. "We're going to take care of this, alright? They'll get to at least 5 years in prison, so you'll never going to have to see them again because you'll be able to leave. It'll be very unlikely they will be allowed out under five years. How's that." Ezra nods and Hera sighs at the lack of emotions the kid has.

"We won't question you anymore today, but you will be coming home with Kanan and me until you are able to talk for yourself." Ezra scoffs, crossing his arms. Hera frowns. "We're going to help you, Ezra, whether you like it or not. You'll get a voice back, but which kind? It is up to you."

Ezra looks at her confused. Which kind of voice I'll get back? What does that mean? He thinks. But before he could get very far, the male police officer, Jarrus, as it says on his badge, opens the door. Ezra stares at him as he speaks.

"Time to go. I have permission from Ahsoka." Hera nods. She looks towards Ezra who had gone back to looking down at his hands and peeling away dead skin from the calluses he has.

"Ezra, would you like to come with us." Ezra shrugs. Hera sighs and stands up. She walks towards Kanan and smiles when she hears a chair scratch against the floor. As the three walk towards the running car, Chopper barks at the three. Hera rolls her eyes at him, but Ezra smiles, walking right towards Chopper. He immediately quiets down and almost smiles when Ezra starts petting him. Hera walks over to the door and opens the door for Ezra, keeping Chopper from jumping out of the car, and closes the door. As she gets in the car, she looks back at Ezra and says,

"Seatbelt?" Ezra nods and she smiles. She puts the car in reverse.

"I wish you could do that," Kanan says to Hera, earning a side glance as she pulls out of the police station. Kanan looks out the window, pouting almost.

"Why don't you learn how to do it?" Hera asks, glancing over at Kanan.

"He doesn't like me!" Kanan exclaims, moving his hands about for exaggeration. The motion earns a growl from Chopper, whose head was on Ezra's lap, being lightly petted as the child looks out the window, and Kanan immediately puts his hands in his lap. Hera smiles at the frustrated look on Kanan's face and begins to pull into the driveway.

"Alright, we're home!" She smiles, looking back at Ezra. She frowns as she sees a faraway look in his eyes. "Ezra?" She asks, gaining the boy's attention, raising his eyebrows in question.

"We're home." She begins to get out of the car, along with Kanan. Unknowing to them, Ezra had mouthed the word _home_ in confusion.

"You coming?" Hera asks, sticking her head in the car. Ezra nods and unfastens the seatbelt and exits the open car door, courtesy of Hera, and Chopper follows closely on his heels. As he walks up to the door, the memories of him getting kicked out flash in his mind, but he keeps a straight face. Chopper nudges at his hand, panting, and Ezra smiles. As the two walks into the house, Ezra can already hear Zeb and Kanan arguing. Before he could get too close, the voices muffled through a closed off room, Hera asks him if he wanted to see his room.

"And you'll have to share it with Zeb." She finishes. With her back to the boy, she doesn't see the quick flash of fear in his eyes.

As the two walks up the stairs, Chopper still on Ezra's heels, he catches a glimpse of the family room and kitchen in full, seeing almost how homey and cozy it looked. He shakes his head.

 _I won't be here for long. I shouldn't think like that. The minute they get the paperwork finished, I'm going back into the system._

"And this is Zeb's room, which you will be sharing with him," Hera says, opening a brown door with the words _DO NOT DISTURB_ on it. "Kanan and I are across from you, Sabine's is the one to the right of ours, and the bathroom is to the left of Zeb's and your's room," Hera says, pointing at each door. While Zeb's room had the sign on it, Sabine's was very colorful, splatters of paint all over it, the words _KNOCK_ on the door. Kanan' and Hera's door was just white, but it had a whiteboard on it, the marker next to it, and little things like

 _we need milk_ or _I have an art gallery thing this weekend at 8_ and even _Chopper has a vet visit this Sunday_ was written on the small space. But it had no meaning to Ezra. He just looked at the words in confusion.

"Come on, I think you need a shower." Ezra nods, seeing as he hasn't showered in months. Even the last time he came here, he didn't remember to take one. Hera grabs a dark blue towel and a dark blue washcloth from the closet within the hallway and leads Ezra to the bathroom. She places the towels on the counter, the thing taking up most of the bathroom, holding two sinks, and turns on the water, making sure it isn't too hot for the boy.

"The green bottle is the shampoo, the blue one is conditioner, and the clear one is body soap." Ezra nods and she smiles. "When you get unchanged, throw your clothes outside so I can wash them, yeah?" Ezra thinks for a minute but then nods. Hera walks out of the bathroom, leaving Ezra there with the running water. Undressing, he tosses the near-brown cloths outside the door, a little bit of dirt coming off of them, and he steps into the shower, closing the dark purple curtain behind him. His muscles almost instantly relax from the hot water as a stream of light brown washes down his back and into the drain as the water beats against his head. Just washing with water, he gets off as much dirt and such that he can before grabbing the washcloth and adding just a _little too much_ body soap. A strong smell of apple-cinnamon fills the room and Ezra sighs, smiling. The smell nearly matched the season, as it was November now, and Ezra thinks about how Thanksgiving was going to be spent, once again, on the streets.

As he finishes washing his body, he grabs the shampoo, giving himself a generous amount of the cotton-smelling gel, and scrubs his head, making sure to get every strand of hair clean. Washing it out, a good amount of dirt and such coming off his head, he puts just about the same amount of the similar smelling conditioner in his hand and adds it to his hair, letting it sit there for a little bit longer, not washing it out immediately. After washing out the conditioner, and making sure he washed his face with the bar of soap, which reminded him of the face soap _she_ had in the shower when he was allowed to use it, he cleans his face, making sure to get behind his ears.

It was the first time in a while Ezra had felt both calm, relaxed, and clean at the same time.

Turning the shower off and opening the door, a cloud of steam coming out of the shower, he grabs the towel and dries himself off. A sudden wave of panic comes.

 _Wait, what am I supposed to wear?_ Looking to his left where the counter was, he sees a pair of boxers, a shirt, and some sweatpants folded and placed next to his towel.

 _Hera must have placed these in here with the towels. Or she came in here while I took a shower without me hearing her._ He mused. As he puts on the clothes, even though they were a little bit too big, he couldn't really complain. And they weren't _too_ big.

Walking out of the bathroom, the steam finally escaping the small space, he walks back to the room where he and Zeb shared. Internally groaning, he opens the door to see Chopper napping on his bed. Whistling, and gaining the dog's attention so he didn't scare him. Raising his head, Chopper begins to wag his tail. Ezra smilies and walks over to the bed, it being large enough for Chopper, him, and at least one more person, he climbs in and sits with his back the wall while Chopper's head is in his lap.

Looking out the small window in the room, he wonders how long it will take for him to get kicked out. Obviously, he can't talk back. But if he does something wrong...

His thoughts are interrupted by knocking at the door. Chopper raises his head, growling a little as the door opens, but he jumps from Ezra's lap and happily runs over to Hera.

"Hey, Ezra. We're about to eat dinner. Would you like to?" Ezra shrugs and gets off the bed, walking towards Hera. "Do you have any allergies, Ezra?" Ezra thinks for a minute, then nods. "Crap," Hera mumbles, almost too low for Ezra to hear. "Could you show me what it is?" Ezra nods and Hera sighs in relief. She motions for him to follow her and the two walk towards the kitchen. Hera grabs a small notepad and a pencil and hands it to Ezra.

"I know you can't write, but can you draw?" Ezra nods. Stomach lowly growling, he starts to draw an oval with a triangle attached to it on one side. Hera nods in understanding. "Fish. You're allergic to fish." Ezra shakes his head. Hera looks at him in confusion. He begins to draw a crescent moon with antennas and a circle with swirls in it and a narrow oval coming out from one side.

"Oh, you're allergic to seafood in general." Ezra nods. "Alright, I'll make sure not to make any from now on."

 _Wait, just because I'm allergic to it, it doesn't mean you can't eat it!_ Ezra immediately feels bad, but he can't tell them otherwise.

"Go sit at the table, I'll be there in a minute." Ezra nods and walks over to the large table, sitting down at an empty chair. As he waits, he bounces his leg subconsciously as he rubs the inside of his left palm with his right thumb.

"You don't have to be so nervous, kid. Zeb won't bite your head off." Ezra's head shoots up at the voice, looking towards a girl with sea blue hair and aqua tips. "I don't think I've properly introduced myself. Him either," She says, pointing her thumb towards a tall, buff man entering the area with grey hair with dark purple tips. He looks at the two, confused. Sabine pulls the boy's attention away, not noticing how his leg stopped moving as it froze.

"My name is Sabine Syndulla. My last name was originally Wren." Ezra raises his eyebrows in surprise. She laughs. "I'll take that as you've heard of them?" Ezra nods.

~+~+~ _FYRP BLIP_ ~+~+~

 _The Wrens were some of the top crime lords in the Galatic. The Wrens, along with other Mandolorian crime groups, were not just the only ones. There are the Imperials, the Hutts, the Bounty Hunters, you name it. The Wrens were in the top 5 crime groups. There are only so many. If you aren't in the top 5, then the police screw with you. When you are in the top 5, they don't even try because they know they'll end up embarrassing themselves. The top 5 were_

 _1\. The Imperials_

 _2\. The Hutts_

 _3\. The Wrens_

 _4\. The Ghosts_

 _5\. The Bounty Hunters_

 _'The Ghosts' is a group who gained their name from the people of Lothal, where most of their crime is. Well, crime isn't the word most people will use. More like True Neutral or Chaotic Good. They help those who are being robbed from, attacked, whether or not it's by the police or another crime group. They move to stealthily that nobody can even get a glimpse at them, so they can't ever try to ask them who they are. So, the civilians gave them their name. They don't seem to mind it, not coming out about not liking it, and sometimes even using it in their attacks. Although they help people, they take little things, things people barely miss, when they help people. So, if someone was being robbed for money and they saved them, they would probably take a five or ten from the wallet. If there was a lot of money, they would take a twenty, but it was rare. If it was a not-so-rich person, they would take a five, a one, or nothing at all._

 _Other crime groups aren't exactly crime groups, but they aren't doing bad, so they aren't hunted by the police. If anything, they help the police. They go against the crime groups 1-5, except nobody messes with #4. These groups include:_

 _1\. The Rebel Alliance_

 _2\. The Smugglers_

 _3\. The Mandalore Resistance_

 _4._ _(Galatic) Republic -_ _(Galactic is the "world" or "earth". Lothal is a state. Capital city is a city, etc.)_

 _5._ _Guardians_

 _You get the gist of it. Each crime group has an opposing side: Imperial-Rebel; Hutts-Smugglers; Wrens-Mandalore Resistance; Ghosts-(Technically) (Galatic) Republic (due to the fact they are chaotic good in their eyes); and Bounty Hunters-Guardians._

 _*More FYRP BLIP Coming Soon! Now, back to our regularly scheduled reading!*  
_

Ezra turns his head to where Hera comes out of the kitchen with Kanan not too far behind, carrying a tray of delicious smelling food. Ezra takes a deep breath, his mouth beginning to drool, as a memory flashes through his head. He swallows. Suddenly, he doesn't quite want to eat anymore.

As Hera sets down a plate in front of him, Ezra looks at the multiple foods on the plate.

"It's meatloaf night," Hera says, smiling. She sets down a plate at an empty spot, most likely hers, and Zeb comes in with two plates, and so does Kanan. Kanan sets one down in front of Sabine, she says thank you, and Zeb sets down two plates in front of himself. When they're all seated, everybody begins to eat.

Ezra just pokes at it.

Realizing that Ezra wasn't eating, Hera doesn't try to get him to eat. She just starts to eat slower, and Kanan, realizing this, eats slower. When both Zeb and Sabine finished their plates, Ezra finding out that Zeb eats two plates worth in the same time someone could eat one, both go to the kitchen to clean their plates before going to the family room.

"You know," Hera says, still eating her food. "It's movie night. And since it's your first time, we decided to let you pick the movie." Ezra shrugs and continues to poke at his food even though his stomach wants him to take a big bite of the, now cold, meatloaf and/or mashed potatoes. "Do you think you could at least take a small bite of the food?" Ezra shakes his head. Hera sighs, relenting. "Well, at least you drank." Hera stands up, her food now gone, and takes Ezra's plate and an empty cup. He tries to stand up to do it himself, always doing the dishes at his old... _home,_ but Hera reaches above her head, putting it out of his reach, smiling.

"Nope. Go pick a movie, Ezra," She says, walking out and into the kitchen. Ezra sighs.

* **Panic attack warning. See next bold WITH UNDERLINE to skip over this.***

"You can't really ever argue with her," Kanan says, smiling at the frustrated boy. He starts walking the same way Zeb and Sabine did. "Come on, let's go pick out a movie." Kanan nods his head towards where Sabine and Zeb went and Ezra shrugs. Suddenly, Kanan puts a hand on Ezra's shoulder. Flinching, Ezra shrugs his hand off. Giving him a weird look, Kanan doesn't do it again and lets his hand fall at his side and Ezra can't breathe as they reach the family room.

 _Shit,_ _not right now. Please, not right now._

Trying his best to keep his hands from shaking, he tries asking Kanan where the bathroom is. Much to his relief, Kanan figured it out on the first try of charades.

"Down the hall, first door on your right," he says, pointing to the hallway to the right of the tv. Ezra nods and quickly shuffles towards the bathroom. Closing the door, he lets out a shaky breath of both relief and panic. Pacing the small space of the bathroom, he rubs his shaking hands up and down his face. Holding back sobs and tears flow down his face, the bathroom becomes a blur and he can't breathe. Stumbles towards the sink, he Leans over it with his head in his hands, he tries to calm himself down.

 _Why must I do this? What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong with me? What's wrong._ Caught up in his thoughts, he doesn't hear the knocking at the door.

 ** _YOu ShOUlN'T Be HeRE_**

 _NO!_

Ezra's vision started to become distorted as if he was looking through a non-see though glass screen. Looking up in the mirror, he can only focus on his reflexion as he sees his own lips move.

 ** _YoU'RE WoRhLeSS_**

 _NO_

 ** _YoU Don'T DeSErVe ThIS_**

 _no. make it stop. make it stop._

Ezra flinches away from the door as it swings open and a worried Hera stands in front of an equally worried Kanan. Ezra sees her mouth move, but no words come out. Shaking as he backups, Ezra keeps a trained eye on the woman. Hera tries to put her hands out to comfort the boy, but he sobs as he pushes them away, slapping her on the hands. She pulls them back as Ezra realizes what he has done and starts to cry more. His hands shake as they reach up to his head as he runs them through his hair, but he can't feel them.

 _I can't stop. I can't stop. I can't feel my hands. I can't feel my arms. I can't I can't I can't._

"Ezra, I know you're scared," Hera tries to say, even though she knows the kid can't hear her. "But we're here, Ezra. It's okay. You're okay. You're safe." She watches as the boy falls down between the shower and the toilet, hiding as he continues to shake. Trying not to cry herself, Hera sits down near the door and tells Kanan to bring them some water. She was going to stay here until he could stop. She was going to wait.

 **OK **,** SO THIS WILL BE IN 2 PARTS. YEAH. OK BYE. and for those of you who skipped over the attack, it's fine. You didn't have to read it. :)**

3 ANGEL

P.S.

If you ever need to talk, just know my PMs are always open. And please know, you never have to go through something like this alone. 3


	10. Chapter 8

***Note: please know that I will not be using actual asl sentence formation due to the fact I cannot do it well. I will be doing Ezra's signing as if he was speaking. Please know that if he is "speaking", he is using ASL.***

When Ezra wakes up, he feels relaxed. Happy.

It lasts for promptly 5 seconds. At most.

What happened the night before makes him bolt up, scaring the poor dog at his feet, looking towards the young boy in concern.

"We thought you'd never wake up, kid," Ezra snaps his head towards the voice. It was Zeb. Collecting himself, he looks towards the man in confusion. Zeb nods his head towards the clock. "It's nearly midday."

He was right. It was 11: 47 a.m.

"We're about to have lunch. You comin'?" Ezra's stomach growls, so he nods. He hasn't eaten in days. He knows he needs to eat at least once before they throw him back out on the street. As if on cue, someone knocks on the door. "Come in!" Zeb yells, taking off his headset. Ezra looks down at his computer on his lap and watches as he pauses the game he was playing. He then also looks up at Hera who pokes her head in. When she catches Ezra looking at her, she smiles.

"We should be having lunch in ten. Will you join us?" Ezra nods. "Alright." As she leaves, Ezra jumps out of bed and crouches next to it. Reaching under the bed, he feels for a strap.

There!

He pulls it, and a backpack full of his necessities come out.

"Hey, kid, what is that?" Ezra almost forgot Zeb was in the room. For being so big, he's quite quiet. Ezra turns around, showing Zeb the backpack. Well, that surely didn't answer his question, but at least it's not drugs or something. Zeb shakes his head and puts back on his headset. Ezra sighs, happy the items in the bottom didn't spill out.

Grabbing the pretty much useless phone on top, he unlocks it quickly, checking for any notifications. When he opens an email and the orange and red square pop up, he panics.

Shoving the phone back into the bag, he puts everything that fell out back in.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Zeb asks, genuinely concerned. Ezra, not thinking, quickly signs

 _I have to go_

Zeb looks at the fast hand movements, surprised. Ezra runs out of the room, slinging the backpack over his right shoulder. "Kid? Kid! Kanan! He's running!" Ezra tries his best to get to the front door before Kanan could stop him, but due to the front door being so close to the kitchen, Kanan is able to intercept him.

"Ezra, what's going on." Ezra, still frantic, not caring whether or not they know he can communicate, although it's very limited, signs

 _I have to go_

 _I have to go_

 _I have to go_

"He's signing!" Sabine states, surprised. Ezra tries to push past Kanan but to no avail.

"What's he sayin'?" Zeb asks as Ezra signs it one more time.

 _I have to go._

"I have to go?" Ezra nods, having given up trying to push past Kanan. "Why? What's wrong."

 _Can't talk._ He signs.

"Can't talk? You can't talk to us? Why? Ezra, what's going on?" Ezra, taking their surprise as an opportunity, finally is able to push past Kanan and runs off, the cold air slapping him in the face as he shivers. The shirt and sweatpants had little to no effect to help block the wind and Ezra runs off into the distance, really wishing he had his jacket.

It was going to be a long run.

"What just happened?" Zeb asks, staring at the door.

"I..." Kanan tries, scratching his head, sighing. Sitting down, he tries to wrap his mind around what just happened.

"We have to find him," Sabine blurts.

"What? Why?" Hera asks, concerned.

"Well, one. It's cold." Sabine chuckles. Hera glares at her. "And two," she says. "He was panicking. Somethings wrong." Walking to the stairs and up to her room, Hera looks at Kanan.

"You think she's right?"

"Yeah, I know she is." Hera looks at him, concerned.

"Kanan?" He stands up, nodding.

"Let's go find him."

Ezra doesn't stop until he's near the railroad that runs on the perimeter of Capital City, Lothal. He estimates that he's made it about a few miles away from where he started. As he slows down his breathing, he listens. Hearing footsteps behind him, Ezra claps three times.

"Ezra?" The figure stops as Ezra turns around, bowing sarcastically. The figure rolls his eyes, something Ezra can barely see with the fading sunlight. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, we need to get back to base. You got the email I reckon?" Ezra nods. Making an L with his right hand, Ezra puts his thumb below his chin and his first finger bends into an x twice.

 _Who?_

"I don't know," the figure says, shrugging. "But what I do know," he says, pointing towards an abandoned building. "Is that you need to be in there. Now." Ezra nods and shoos him towards the building, telling him to go first. As the two go toward the building, Ezra's handed a jacket from Jai. "It's cold, dude." Ezra shrugs as he puts it on.

As the two arrive at the building, Jai opens the door for Ezra and bows sarcastically as Ezra did before. "After you, " he smiles. Ezra rolls his eyes but smiles too. Entering, it's dark, but he can still see. A lot of the people there are running around, but almost everybody freezes when they see that Ezra's arrived. Almost immediately they start yelling. Ezra starts to panic and tries to clap to get their attention and it doesn't work. Jai tries calming them down, but it doesn't work either. Ezra rolls his eyes and puts his fingers in his mouth and blows. The high pitched whistle quiets down the panicking group and all attention is on Ezra. He sighs and starts to sign to Jai to asks him to be his voice so everybody can understand him.

"Yeah, of course." As Ezra signs, Jai says it aloud. "Where is Zare?"

"Meeting room!" Somebody yells out. Ezra signs...

"Thank you." Ezra signs for Jai to follow and the two go to the back of the building to where the meeting room is. A path is cleared for the two and Ezra tries to figure out what's going on. Reaching the room, he opens the door and Zare is sitting in one of the chairs that they were able to find. Letting Jai in, Ezra closes the door and turns towards a relieved looking Zare.

"Zare, what's going on?"

"I'm moving." Ezra's mind immediately stops working.

"What do you mean you're moving? I thought you weren't adopted yet?"

"I was. A few days ago. We're moving. To Arkanis. It's at least a five-day drive. I'll never be able to come back and meet up with you guys. Calling, sure, but I won't be able to come back during school. I'm sorry."

"You're okay, we'll figure it out." Ezra signs, sighing.

"You have no idea what to do, don't you?" Zare asks and Ezra nods. "Well, I don't leave for another week, so we'll just have to figure it out." As the three sit in silence, Ezra tries his best to come up with a replacement for Zare. He sighs and snaps, gaining the other two boy's attention.

"What about Oleg?" Ezra asks.

"Oleg?" Jai says in disbelief. "Why pick him as a replacement?" He looks to Zare to back him up, but he nods.

"No, I understand where he's coming from. He'd actually help in my replacement." Ezra nods in agreement, looking back at Jai whos still upset.

"But-"

"Jai, he's the only one who's been here long enough to understand how to deal with the issues we have from time to time. You're just going to have to deal." Zare stands, walking over to Jai and hugs him. "I'll see you later, yeah." Pulling away, Zare turns towards Ezra, smiling. "Good luck, Ezra Dev Morgan Bridger." Ezra rolls his eyes at the long name but hugs Zare.

One last nod to Jai and Ezra and Zare walks out of the room and out of the building through the quiet crowd. One last wave and he walks away from the building back home and to his new one.

The rest of the night, Jai and Ezra explain to the group what was going to happen, who was going to replace Zare, much to many peoples dismay, and that's that.

They were all going to miss Zare.

Ezra leaves the West side of Capital City just after midnight where the building was. He stays in the shadows until he gets back to where Kanan and Hera's neighborhood was. Thankfully he knew his way back quite well at this point from doing the trip so many times after he ran away from home so long ago. So, it's not the issue of where the neighborhood is.

It's where the house is.

All the houses...looked... _the same._

He tries his best to remember, but he was in such a state of panic, he never got the number off the house, so he wandered up and down the streets of the neighborhood. Walking down the middle of the street, Ezra turned as the headlights of a car started to come into view. Ezra, not quite caring who it was, stared into the headlights until the car came to a stop five feet from him. As it did, the driver's door was thrown open and Ezra saw... _oh no._

"Ezra!" Hera yells, running towards the boy. Ezra quickly takes a few steps back in panic and Hera realizes that she had spooked him. "Ezra, you're okay! We thought something had happened to you after you ran off! You can't just do that, you scared us!" Hera explains, motioning for the boy to follow her and get into the car. "Come on, let's go home."

 _Home._ Ezra mouths the word as if it's foreign, but gets into the back of the car on the driver's side.

Hera makes a u-turn and the two sit in silence as Hera drives home. Ezra remembers her making a call to everybody else that she had found him, but he was too tired to listen or care. When they pulled into the driveway of the house, when Ezra got out, he made sure to look at the number.

180212

Going back inside, everybody was already back and waiting in the kitchen.

 _This outta be fun._ Ezra thinks, keeping his head down as he walks in. He hears a sigh of relief come from Kanan but a "Great, k, he isn't dead. Night." From Zeb. Sabine follows not too far, nodding to Ezra as she passes him.

Ezra stands there, head down and hands behind his back, making sure not to look up. He hears Kanan stand up and walk past him. "We'll talk about this in the morning." Ezra nods and turns to go upstairs. Before he even starts walking, Hera asks,

"Do you want some hot chocolate, Ezra?" Ezra turns around and looks at Hera. He thinks for a moment before nodding, still rather cold with the jacket on. She smiles and begins to get a teapot and fills it and puts it on the stove. Ezra slowly walks over to the table and sits down. He watches Hera as she grabs two cups from the cabinet, a green one and a blue one, and sets them near the stove. Grabbing a can of something from the pantry, most likely chocolate powder, Hera puts three tablespoons into the cups. Ezra flinches at the high pitch sound from the teapot and Hera quickly opens the end and pours the boiling water into the cups. Stirring them, the powder dissolves and she goes to the freezer and grabs an icecube tray. Putting four in each cup, she brings them over to the table and places the blue one in front of Ezra. Holding the green one, Ezra sits to his left with one leg on the chair and one on the floor. Ezra grabs the cup, careful not to burn his hands, and watches as Hera takes a sip slowly. Ezra raises his cup to his lips and does the same, testing it on his top lip to make sure it wouldn't burn him. The ice, already melted, had cooled it down considerably, so it was only a little hot. Taking a large sip, he feels the warmth flow through him and feels himself relax a little. He sighs contentedly and takes another large sip.

"You're not in trouble, you know," Hera says, halfway done with her cup. Ezra raises a brow and she hums. "Okay, maybe a little. But it's only because you ran off with no explanation for easily seven or eight hours." Ezra nods, shrinking back into his chair. "Ezra, honey, we just want to know why." She says, watching him closely, but her eyes soft. Ezra shrugs, taking another sip. Knowing she won't get anything else out of the boy, she lets the subject be.

When they're both finished, Hera tries to take Ezra's cup, but he's up and moving to the sink before she can take it. "Ezra, it's alright. I can clean it up. You can go to bed." Hera tries to coax, but Ezra turns on the sink and starts to clean the cup. Hera sighs, and walks over to the sink to clean her cup with Ezra cleaning his. Once they're both finished, Ezra looks at her and motions putting it somewhere. Hera opens the dishwasher and pulls out the top rack and Ezra places his cup in an open spot. Ezra signs to her without thinking much of it,

 _Good night._

Hera smiles and signs back to him,

 _Good night, Ezra._

He looks at her, shocked. Hera smiles. "Sabine had taught me some so she could study for her ASL final a couple of years ago. She knows it pretty well and I know what I remember from her last-minute studying with me at midnight with five cups of hot chocolate on the table for her with my one." Hera laughs, the memory feeling fresh in her mind. Ezra mouths oh, and nods. Ezra points to the stairs and Hera nods. "Good night, Ezra." She watches the corners of his mouth raise before he turns and walks to the stairs and up them, not making a single creak on his way up.


End file.
